Thursday, January 30, 2014

My Road To Adepticon: Making The GT List

SeerK here. Well despite the 40K malaise that has over taken many, I am still soldiering on. I have been at
this for 20 plus years so I guess I am just to old and set in my ways to quit. I have been contemplating what to bring the Adepticon 40k Championships. I have been mostly contemplating what I may be coming up against in the GT. The more I think about it the more cross eyed I get.

So I started looking at it from a different angle. What won't I be up against? I know it sounds kind of weird, but there is a logic to my madness. If we consult the latest rules for the GT we will see that data slates and such are out. Updated rules for the fortifications in the BRB from stronghold assault are in. The firestorm redoubt and the vengeance batteries are in. No upgrades are allowed. SO I don't have to deal with titans, shield generators or any annoying Firebase Cadres.

This first bit tells me I have to have a few different things in the list. Besides the obvious, decent amount of scoring units, anti flyer/ flying varmint capability, anti armor and anti horde capability, I am going to probably have to deal with fortifications and the crap ton of fire they can lay down. Serpent spam, Seer / screamer star and flying circus doesn't even worry me. They can be tied up semi easily and when tide up there is not much else left to deal with in the opposing army. Its weird that the meta has not really changed a whole ton since Codex Space Marines came out. I think the confusion caused by the advent shenanigans, supplements and lack of FAQ has actually kept the meta pretty stable. Format of course dictates meta, but I think its fairly safe to say from what I have read on forums, seen on torrent of fire and heard on pod casts that things have not changed a whole bunch. I just have to keep my eyes and ears peeled to see what the Hive Fleet boys come up with.

I digress slightly though. I have really been wracking my brain about what to bring. I initially had a Eldar list with Grey Knight allies and an Inquisitorial detachment that contained 5 flyers and not much else. It was hard to deal with, but lacked boots on the ground. This is the real lynch pin of a good list. Boots on the ground. Most importantly scoring and denial boots on the ground. I think the later is as important as the former. As long as you can deny objectives it means you can keep the valuable scoring units back, holding objectives.

I have Dire Avengers, Rangers, Guardians, Jetbikes and Wraithguard as possible scoring units. Everything else that's not a tank, IE Aspect Warriors and such, are denial units. Now the typical denial unit in an Eldar list is also scoring. The mobility of Jetbikes make them great last minute objective denying units and scoring units. This also makes them targets. With reserves coming in more easily you have to really work at hiding them. Try as I might mine usually get killed in last ditch efforts to tie or win a game.

So I think I am going with a traditional Ulthwe style list. I am comfortable and familiar with running Guardian heavy lists. The list will be anchored by two blobs of Guardians supported by Warlocks. My Main HQ choice will be Eldrad. A second HQ choice is what I am going back and fourth on. If I go Guardian Heavy, which is what I am leaning towards, The Avatar would be a good choice. A Spirit Seer would be cheaper and make Wraithguard troops, but I don't know if I want Wraithguard are going in. I swear I need to really work on my flip flopping with lists.

A working list I have had some success with currently, which is not a real Ulthwe theme, has an Autarch paired up with a squad of Dark Reapers. I have Dark Kin allies with a beefy Archon leading them also in with that squad to provide some close combat protection. The list is as follows. Since I am probably not using it I will post it.

HQ: Autarch with Reaper launcherTroops: 2x Dire Avenger Units in wave serpents with the typical load outTroops: 1x squad of RangersFast Attack: 2x Crimson Hunters, one an ExarchHeavy: 1x unit of Dark ReapersDark Eldar AlliesHQ: Archon with lots of goodiesTroops: 2x Kabalite warrior squads with blasters in Venoms with duel splinter cannons.Heavy: 1x Razorwing kitted for ground assault.As I said its been semi successful, but not great. It is Especially not GT winning great. Firepower is very nice and it deals with a lot of different situations and lists, but its main weakness is lack of hardy scoring units. I myself am trying to up my own skill as a player as well. No amount of list building can make up for poor generalship. I know there are some crutches currently that make that statement a bit false. I digress again.

So as it stands I have Eldrad and a couple Warlocks in the new list along with two Guardian blobs. I am really trying to flesh it out past that. I am debating my heavy choices as well as my Fast attack. I do think Warp Spiders and a Wraith Knight may make it in. I am not sure about the Wraith Knight though due to points. I am trying to have something finalized by next week so I can start play testing it. I am shooting for a list that I don't have to really paint anything. I will clean up the models and do some more detail work and possibly re base.

Once I get a list done and a couple games in I will report back. All this thinking out loud is getting the gears turning more. So If you were me what would you bring to the table?

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